《中英對照讀新聞》Fattest island launches slimming award 最肥胖的島嶼發起減肥大賽

◎俞智敏

Burgers and booze have bloated waistlines so much in Japan’s southern island of Okinawa that authorities in the capital have launched a slimming competition.

漢堡和酒精造成日本南方的沖繩島人腰圍大幅膨脹，導致沖繩首府當局不得不發起減肥大賽。

Girths are growing across Japan as lifestyles and diets have become more Westernized：according to a Health Ministry report earlier this year, some 29 percent of men aged 20-60 are overweight compared with 24 percent in 2000.

隨著生活方式與飲食習慣逐漸西化，日本全國民眾的腰圍也不斷增加：根據日本厚生勞動省今年稍早所公布的一項報告顯示，20歲到60歲間的男性中有29％體重過重，相較於2000年時只有24％的同年齡層男性過重。

But the problem is at its worst in the far-flung island of Okinawa, said a spokeswoman for the capital city of Naha, where 45.4 percent of men in their 40s and 50s are obese.

但這個問題在位處偏遠的沖繩島最為嚴重，沖繩首府那霸市政府發言人表示，當地年約40到50多歲的男性中有高達45.4％過重。

The spokeswoman said Okinawa, which has tumbled down Japan’s longevity rankings, could partly blame burger-munching Americans who ruled the islands from the end of World War Two until 1972 and the thousands of U.S. troops still stationed there.

據該名發言人表示，沖繩在日本全國各地的平均壽命排名名次已大幅下滑，部份原因很可能是愛吃漢堡的美國人自二次大戰結束後即統治沖繩島直到1972年，目前還有數千美軍駐紮在當地。

"In the past, we had a plain and healthy diet, but ever since the American rule, our diet has become Americanized," she said.

「過去，我們的飲食非常簡單而健康，但自從美國統治後，我們的飲食就變得美國化，」她說。

新聞辭典

slim：指使體重減輕，或減少、縮減，如He slimmed his figure with a rigid diet.（他藉由嚴格限制飲食成功減重。）slim亦可做形容詞，指苗條、纖細，或指微薄、稀少，如He lived on a slim income.（他靠微薄的收入生活。）

diet：名詞，指飲食、食物，如Their diet chiefly consists of grain and vegetables.（他們的主食為穀類和蔬菜。）diet亦可指（某種疾病或狀況的）特別飲食，如No chocolate, please. I’m on a diet.（請不要放巧克力，我正在節食。）

longevity：長壽；壽命，如His longevity vexed his heirs.（他的長命讓繼承人們感到惱火。）